


kickstart

by h0lyheck



Series: get a kick out of it [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Feelings, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Soccer, but none of them really make enough of an appearance to character tag, mentioned Jisung and Jaemin and Jeno, reading the two fics in either order should be fine, this is a prequel!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 17:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14290152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h0lyheck/pseuds/h0lyheck
Summary: How is Donghyuck supposed to keep the school rivalry alive if the enemy is so beautiful?





	kickstart

**Author's Note:**

> howdy!  
> I wanna thank everyone for the amazing reception I got on my first work here, and I hope you enjoy this prequel as well!  
> reading this first should work just fine, but if you'd prefer to read the series in the order it was written start with the sequel and then come back here!  
> thank you for reading and please enjoy :>  
> (un-proofed)

Donghyuck is not a fan of the cold. Everyone within a mile of his social circle (or, alternatively, his winter wardrobe) is well aware of this fact.

Despite this, here he is, sitting on too-cold bleachers in the January chill. The air is so frigid that he can practically see his breath solidify into ice as it leaves his mouth. He saw a video of that, once, and promptly decided that the day he willingly stepped into such weather would be the day pigs flew.

He doesn’t see any pigs. He blames Jaemin.

Jaemin, who’s so disgustingly whipped for a classmate named Lee Jeno that he dragged Donghyuck and a slightly-more-willing Jisung to their high school’s home soccer game against some school on the other side of town. Jaemin, who dressed up in the cutest, softest clothes he owned and brought a book maybe six years over his reading level. Jaemin, who forgot he and Jisung had a group project to work on and left Donghyuck to shiver and call immediately if the boy of his affections showed up. Jaemin, who’s lucky Donghyuck loves him so much.

Donghyuck jumps as a cheer erupts from the opposite side of the field. The away team is especially passionate about this game (match? set? Donghyuck is clueless about sports), so he assumes there’s some sort of school rivalry going on. He scans the field for the player who just scored.

His eyes zero in on a boy in the away team’s colors. Other players are surrounding him, offering high-fives and excited shouts, but by some coincidence- fate, a cheesier Donghyuck might say- the boy’s eyes lock with his own. Donghyuck almost chokes.

How is he supposed to keep the school rivalry alive if the enemy is so beautiful?

Donghyuck offers a half-smile and an awkward thumbs-up. His fuzzy red gloves take an awkward shape, and he lets out a small chuckle at its appearance. The boy’s eyes crinkle- what a _smile-_ and he sends a friendly wave in return. They hold eye contact for a few more seconds, but a teammate steals the pretty boy’s attention away before it becomes awkward. With one more fleeting smile directed at Donghyuck, he’s once again fully absorbed in the game.

Donghyuck shakes himself out of his daze, looks left, looks right. He’s in the corner of the stands, sitting in the front row about a third of the way through the field. No one is looking at him. His red and gold scarf swishes in a gust of wind.

He quietly stands up and darts over to the opposing team’s bleachers.

-

Donghyuck is completely into this game, and none of the students on this side of the field seem to have noticed his intrusion. Pretty Boy seems to be the ace of the team, weaving in and out between Donghyuck’s acquaintances with relative ease. He seems grounded, and is willing to give up the ball and let someone else take a goal-earning shot whenever there seems to be a greater chance of success. The safety cone orange of his jersey should be a disaster, but fits nicely with his warm skin. Donghyuck is in love.

“Go, Mark!” a voice behind him yells. Pretty Boy- Mark, Donghyuck thinks, but it could be someone else and the timing a coincidence- turns and offers a smile, and his eyes meet Donghyuck’s once again. The smile drops a bit, slight confusion taking over his features, and he whips his head around to look at the place where Donghyuck had previously been seated. When he turns back around, the surprise is evident in his expression. Donghyuck laughs into his hand.

Maybe-Mark’s smile widens, if that’s even possible, and another wave comes Donghyuck’s way. He grins back, pumping his fist and mouthing a “fighting!” to the athlete. A strange color of determination crosses Maybe-Mark’s face, and he nods before looking at the scoreboard and returning to the game.

Donghyuck glances at the scoreboard as well. There are two minutes left in the match, and each team is tied at four goals. His school was known for being a powerhouse in athletics, but he was not-so-privately glad that the away team was giving them a run for their money. The whistle blows. Donghyuck’s attention snaps to where it’s been resting all evening.

He’s standing a few yards from the kicker, tense and waiting for the ball to come into play. His hair is slightly messy. A serious expression rests on his face, and his jersey is a bit crooked, but he’s far too focused to bother fixing it. He’s absolutely gorgeous.

All of Donghyuck’s ogling causes him to zone out, only coming back to reality when a girl on the stand behind his screams like a banshee. His eyes race around the field, looking for Maybe-Mark, and he finds him chasing the ball to the home goal. Donghyuck’s gloved fingers clench his scarf in anticipation.

Maybe-Mark dodges one defender, kicks the ball between another’s legs- Donghyuck gasps at that- and reaches the goal in no time. The poor goalie can barely blink before the black and white ball whizzes by, mere centimeters from his face, and lands in the goal. Donghyuck stands up and cheers with the rival school.

The boy’s eyes search for his once more, and there’s no way it’s a coincidence this time. In a moment of “Donghyuck-esque stupidity”, as his dear friend Jisung would call it, he lifts his hand and blows a kiss. The receiver’s eyes widen and Donghyuck is preparing for a shameful death when a hand reaches up and snatches something invisible out of the air, storing the imaginary kiss in a pocket of the owner’s shorts.

Donghyuck looks back at Maybe-Mark, who is grinning once more, cheeks flushed. He thinks he should start attending more soccer games.

-

The school is mostly dark, but the lights in the bathroom are bright as ever. The school is required to keep them open until all students are off campus, and the soccer game is just wrapping up. He washes his hands, gloves stored safely in his pocket, and pulls out his phone to text Jaemin about his crush’s unfortunate absence while someone walks up to the sink next to him.

“It’s freezing out there,” his neighbor comments, turning on the water. “Thought I was gonna turn into an ice cube by the last ten minutes.”

“God, I _know_ ,” Donghyuck groans, not looking up from consoling his friend through heart emojis. “I can’t stand the cold, but I ended up having a way better time than I expected.”

The boy next to him hums, a wordless request to elaborate. Donghyuck takes it gratefully. He needs to talk about this boy or he might explode.

“Okay, I know probably negative ten things about soccer, but there was this boy on the other team- I’m from here,” he clarifies, waiting until he receives another hum to continue, “and we, like, kept making eye contact? And he’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and I don’t need to be a soccer star to know that he was the best player on that field.”

“I don’t know about that,” his conversation partner laughs (Donghyuck thinks it's the most precious sound he's ever heard, but he refuses to have two crushes in as many hours), reaching for the soap. His voice is soothing, Donghyuck subconsciously thinks. It’s nice. “How can you call him the best if you didn’t pay attention to anyone else?”

Donghyuck sputters. “I- um. It was a gut feeling. Trust me, if you had been paying any attention you wouldn’t be fighting me on this, but! I haven’t even gotten to the best part.”

“The best part.” He can hear the smile in the other’s voice.

“I blew him a kiss, like a total _idiot,_ and the guy caught it! And he put it in his pocket! And I don’t mean to exaggerate but I think a small part of me died right then.” The boy laughs beside him, turning the sink off. Donghyuck types out another consoling message for Jaemin. He’s not usually like this, but this boy is so cute and he needs to freak out about him so bad. “I think his name might be Mark? He looked over when someone said that earlier but it might have just been a coincidence, and I can’t just go up to him and say “Hey, Mark”, because I might die if that’s not his name and I call him by it.”

A pause. “It’s Mark.”

“Oh, is it?” Donghyuck smiles, relieved. “Do you know him?”

Paper towels are thrown into the trash. “You could say that.”

Donghyuck frowns. That’s an odd response. He looks up to ask what exactly that means, then drops his phone.

Definitely-Mark lunges, snatching the phone out of the air before any unfortunate cracks can occur. He stands back up, offering the phone to Donghyuck with an outstretched hand and a faint smile. He doesn't laugh, thankfully.

“Wh,” Donghyuck says. Mark does laugh at that. 

“Soccer player,” he explains, wiggling the hand with Donghyuck’s phone in  
it. “Reflexes.” His smile is genuine and becomes a bit more visible. Donghyuck blushes beet red and stumbles over his feet to escape the room.

Once outside, he rests his burning head in his hands. Somehow, over the course of maybe two hours, he both developed a crush and gave all the gory details of his attraction to said crush. He must have been a terrible person in his past life, because Donghyuck is sure he’ll never be this embarrassed for all of eternity.

Someone clears their throat from beside him and he nearly jumps out of his skin. Offering the phone to Donghyuck once again, Mark seems both apologetic and a little amused after seeing Donghyuck’s scare.

“Yes!” Donghyuck exclaims far too loudly, then flinches. “That is. That’s my phone. I’ll be taking my phone now. Thank you. Goodbye.” He scrambles away once more- he’s very good at that- before he sees the screen his phone is open to and nearly drops it again.

_Mark <3_, the contact reads. Mark’s sent a kissy face to the number from Donghyuck’s phone. Opening the contact information, Donghyuck finds a phone number and an email address. It’s not long before his phone chimes with a text from his latest contact.

_Coffee tomorrow?_ it reads. _I returned your phone, but I haven’t repaid you for the kiss you sent yet._

Donghyuck squeaks, a loud, embarrassing sound in the (thankfully) empty hallway. Mark must have left already. If Jisung and Jaemin were here, they’d tease him to no end, and not necessarily in a fun way.

Donghyuck sends an enthusiastic yes, complete with too many smiley emojis, and decides what his best friends don’t know won’t hurt them.

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you thought! it's fun to get back into writing again haha, no matter how out of practice I am  
> thanks for making it this far!


End file.
